What a day! I saw an awful lot of smiles and stoke today and I think we can all safely say Monroe is an epic place (those colors!) to hold a hike and fly event. Scores will be announced shortly for the Pro class. It’s 11 pm and just got back so I don’t have all the beta on how the Adventure Division went, but I understand quite a few made goal on a tough day with a slow start from Cove after an unbelievable showing of hiking STRONG and FAST by the Colorado contention of vertical animals! Erik Klammer was the first to arrive in a remarkable 1:26, followed closely by Isaac Lammers, Carl Marvin, Jared Scheid, and Taylor Rice. What do they feed these guys in Colorado! Next stop X-Alps!
No pilots in the Pro Division made goal, but there was some killer racing going on at the southern turn point, which only air Jedi Matt Dadam made in the air. Shortly after he took off to try to take the Big Lake Turnpoint William Pardis (who was WAY out in front after leaving Cove before most of the pilots had even considered launching), Logan Walters and a very enthusiastic Cedar Wright (who had to do a mean hike without his hiking poles, as he’d left them at the Cove launch!) were hot on his tail after gunning it straight up a 2,000 foot ridge. Unfortunately a stronger than expected north wind made the going really tough up to the Big Lake turn point and all the pilots struggled to make distance and it quickly turned into a foot race. Matt, Logan and Cedar all finished tied for first in a very sportsmanlike end, and Ben Walker, Arash Farhang, Rob Curran, Kevin Carter, James Elliot, and Honza Rejmanek were right there in the hunt. Jesse Williams made it to the turn point with only 15 minutes to spare before the mandatory land by time (7 pm) and slickly made it off launch and down to the valley floor in style. Reavis came in just afterwards and Bill Belcourt nearly got the turn point after some seriously hard miles on the ground and a stellar effort after a bold early flight.
I can’t wait to hear all the stories. Tomorrow rumor has it we’ll be heading to Mt Edna for the start, winds are forecasted to be lighter and I’m positive it will be another exciting day of throwing down in Southern Utah! Day 1 down, time for a short rest and more going hard bright and early!
